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Neely Spence

Spence comes from good genes, but she’s got some serious skills and work ethic of her own, too. The daughter of Steve Spence, the bronze medalist in the 1991 world championships marathon, Neely followed up a record-setting Division II collegiate career at Shippensburg with a solid professional debut season for the Hansons-Brooks squad in 2012. The 22-year-old Spence was runner-up at last year’s U.S. 5K championships in Providence, and placed third at the 10K championships in Boston. Most recently, she competed as part of the U.S. team at the Chiba Ekiden Relay in Japan this past December, and followed that with a win at the Zatopek 10,000m run in Melbourne, Australia, making her the first American woman to win the event. As much as any young runner in America, Spence seems destined for greatness.